


The best things always happen in summer

by cherrycitrus_blossom



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Car Wash - Freeform, Fluff, How to ask someone to be your friend without outrightly asking?, M/M, Summer Vacation, light comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21706009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrycitrus_blossom/pseuds/cherrycitrus_blossom
Summary: Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck and Jaemin thought they'll only spend their summer with each other while operating their car washing business.But they didn't think they'll meet someone new this summer who was the missing puzzle piece to their friendship.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno/Liu Yang Yang/Na Jaemin, Minor Johnny/Kun
Comments: 1
Kudos: 87
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	The best things always happen in summer

**Author's Note:**

> To the prompter! I fell in love with your prompt and I was excited to explore it! I interpret it a little differently so I hope that it's still to your satisfaction!!
> 
> To everyone else! I hope you like it!!
> 
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/ncity_myday)  
> 

Summer is the time to relax and have fun with your friends, but if you’re like Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck and Jaemin, there’s not much you can do if not one of you owns a car. They weren’t thinking about getting out of town for the summer, but when you live in a small suburban town, you’d want a change of scenery. 

Unfortunately for the quartet, that’s not the case.

“Okay so. I know that we said that we weren’t going to go away for the summer but there’s literally nothing much we can do in this town that we haven’t already done.” Jaemin speaks over the sound of the pan where he’s cooking pancakes, his back to his three friends who are sitting in the living room.

“Surely we can come up with something? We live near a beach, a swimming pool, a jungle gym etcetera.” Donghyuck looks to the ceiling while counting off his fingers, “We can always make a game or something wherever we go.”

“We could, if we had the money to go to these places more than once.” Jeno plays with the hamster plushie in his lap, squishing the cheeks continuously. “We can’t just ask our parents for money to cover us the entire summer holidays plus none of us have jobs.”

Everyone went silent after what Jeno said, knowing that what he said is very true. Asking their parents for money is the last resort for them, only when it’s absolutely necessary. So with that in mind, the quartet is stumped.

“I guess we need to make money ourselves like what we see in the movies?” Donghyuck says after a few minutes of silence. He remembers some characters will have their own mini business, from the movies that his brother Johnny would force him to watch together.

“What do you have in mind?” Renjun cranes his neck around to make eye contact with Donghyuck, “There’s four of us so surely we can do something we are all capable of.”

Donghyuck sits up so he is facing Renjun and not having to turn his neck and potentially hurt himself, “Hmm...I remember watching kids do a lemonade stand, a bake sale or a car wash. So I guess we can decide between those?” 

Jaemin was the first one to give his opinion, “Well as much as the first two sound cute, as a collective we suck at baking and I don’t feel like going to the supermarket every day to purchase lemons when people can buy their own lemonade. Besides the first two means using our money, and we’re trying to earn money without having to use too much of ours.” Jaemin was still at the stove, cooking a few more pancakes since there were four of them to divide the pancake stack.

Jeno makes a noise in protest, “Was that jab about baking at me? Just because I haven’t had much experience doesn’t mean we can’t do the bake sale. At least I know the difference between flour and self-raising flour, unlike my cousin.”

“No, that wasn’t at you Jeno. Jaemin was talking about the time that he and I tried to bake cupcakes but we used too much baking soda, even after Donghyuck told us to make sure we didn’t make the same mistake he did the day before.” Renjun replies with a laugh as he remembered that day. He and Jaemin were trying to keep calm while Donghyuck was laughing over the video call because of the absurdity of the situation.

“Sooo based on that, I guess we are going to do a car wash?” Jeno asks while still playing with the plushie in his lap, “We need to find somewhere big enough so we can wash at least two cars at once. A driveway isn’t that ideal.”

“I can talk to my dad about that big space down the road from my house? The one that it could’ve been a carpark since there’s concrete but there’s no building there.” Donghyuck suggests as he gets up to see if Jaemin needed help in the kitchen, “It’ll be good since we all live close to it and there isn’t any existing car wash nearby.”

Jaemin looks up to give Donghyuck a thumbs up, “That space is on the corner of that road leading to the town square. Good place to get customers.”

“Then it’s settled, we’ll spend the next two months operating a car wash!” Renjun claps his hands, “All of our parents will be so glad that we’ll be out of the house.” He adds as an afterthought, bringing laughs from the other three.

With that said, the boys decided to regroup the Sunday before the holidays started after informing their parents of their summer vacation plans. Then the next coming Monday will be the first day of their carwash. It was decided that they will run their car wash every day, on weekdays they will open from 9am-11am, 12pm-3pm and then 4pm-6:30pm so they can have a break in between. On weekends, it's a bit more relaxed so they’ll start from 12pm until around 6pm. Renjun and Jaemin worked on the signboard to put on the curb to attract customers while Jaemin and Donghyuck worked out the prices. 

It wasn’t hard for them to set up the car wash. Once Donghyuck’s dad told them that they have free reign over the parking lot, Renjun immediately had an idea on how to utilise it. What was good for them was the amount of large trees surrounding the lot, which will serve as a resting place for drivers when they wait for their car to be washed. There also happens to be a tap that they can connect a hose without having to connect to the one in Donghyuck’s front garden. They also plan to get an esky and a bag of ice cubes to store some drinks to serve to their customers. Jeno’s dad even provided the boys sponges, wipers and clothes to use for their tasks.

The day before they opened the car wash, the boys each assigned each other their roles. Jaemin would welcome the cars and asks for what kind of service they want. Jeno would control the hose while Renjun and Donghyuck will apply the soap cover sponges and then all of them will wipe down the car after its rinsed. “A very methodical system,” as Renjun puts it in simple terms.

The first day of business went better than expected. As they were located on one of the roads heading to the town square, many cars have passed by and saw the sign. It worked in their favour having cars decided to get their car washed as they were heading home.

It’s coming to the end of the first week of their car washing business, and the boys attracted more customers than anticipated. Unfortunately, more customers meant that they had to be on their feet longer under the summer heat. Running a business is not easy, but having to do the same thing everyday without wanting to just close for the day was the hardest. Not to mention their hands becoming wrinkly at the end of each day from all the water they used. It was interesting for them to see which cars appear at their car wash, and the people who were in said car, but it doesn’t take long for it to be boring.

"Someone tell me again why we thought that a car wash during the summer was the best idea to earn money?" Renjun asked out loud as he moves the sponge around so the soap is lathered onto the car.

"Because we didn't want to make lemonade knowing that no one would buy it even though it's so hot, and every other idea was too much work," Jeno replies as he walked over with a bucket of water, "Besides at least we can use this empty parking lot for the rest of the summer since Donghyuck's dad knew who to ask permission from."

"Also since it's near Donghyuck's house, we can basically stay over for the rest of the summer," Jaemin says as he walks past Renjun and Jeno to get payment from a customer who just came to collect their car after it was washed.

Donghyuck couldn't help but scoff at Jaemin's last statement, "Excuse me, I don't remember agreeing to have you three stay with me wait- freeload at my house for the summer."

"You're right Hyuckie. You didn't, but your parents did." Jeno replied in a heartbeat that made Renjun burst out laughing and almost knocking over the bucket of water. Donghyuck on the other hand, spluttered at Jeno's unexpected comeback.

Although Donghyuck claims that he doesn't want the three to basically freeload for the summer, he doesn't mean it that way. His only problem, however, is having to figure out how to wake them in the morning since they have different methods of waking up. For instance, Jeno would wake up if you play something really loudly near his ears since poking him will feel like nothing ever since he started working out. With Renjun, you have to shake him very gently, or slowly pull him up and have him start to wake up as he leans on someone else. Jaemin is the most difficult, you have to poke him in the stomach, then turn him onto his side before massaging the back of his neck to get him to open his eyes.

With that, staying in Donghyuck’s room is an adventure in itself. He has to get Renjun and Jaemin up before even attempting to wake up Jeno, and making sure the two don’t fall asleep again before Donghyuck has to blast a song. Fortunately, his siblings and parents sleep in the rooms on the other side of the house so they don’t hear SHINee’s Ring Ding Dong at 9 in the morning.

It’s still all fun and laughs when it’s the four of them together, no matter how many sighs Donghyuck makes every morning. But when they all put their minds to something, they’ll get it done. Every customer that has used their car wash had nothing but praises for the boys, not to mention the utter most patience since they know the boys aren’t professionals. Sometimes they would be given ice creams as a thank you which is a bonus.

On this particular Friday afternoon, business was a bit slower so the boys were able to give more care in the cars that came by that day. One customer asked if they could leave their car there while they go shopping and return for it a few hours. That’s how the quartet ended up fooling around for a while because there were no other customers for the next few hours.

Hence why a water fight had started between Renjun and Donghyuck who were throwing the sponges at each other. Jaemin tried to stay out of it, but when Jeno decided to aim the hose at him, Jaemin had no choice but to grab the bucket of water to join in. This went on for a few minutes and it got to the point Renjun was trying to grab the hose from Jeno’s hands but he was unsuccessful and the water was going everywhere. Donghyuck was laughing, trying to hide from the uncontrollable hose and Jaemin decided to back away to catch his breath from laughing too much. Until he heard a small laugh from the ‘entrance’ (which was where cars enter the parking lot).

Jaemin looked up and locked gazes with a boy standing a few metres away, staring at the aftermath of Jeno and Renjun not controlling the hose properly. He wasn’t sure why but Jaemin started to flush at being stared at by a total stranger, but a cute stranger.

It didn’t take long for the others to notice the new presence at the end of the driveway, and now there’s suddenly four pairs of eyes looking at this stranger who was holding his backpack on one shoulder and his phone in the other hand.

Haechan was the first to react because no one was saying anything, “I’m so sorry about this! You didn’t happen to get water on you did you?” he asked with concern in his voice. The stranger startled at the sudden question but didn’t fail to smile before answering, “Oh no I’m okay! I was far enough from the hose that it didn’t reach me.”

“That’s a relief,” Renjun says with a sigh, “That would be an amazing first impression for someone we just met.” He said that because he knows that this stranger doesn’t go to their university, and if he is right, this must be someone who arrived in their town when the summer started.

“I’d say that this is still an interesting first impression.” The stranger offers a bright smile, “I’ve been walking around for a while and I haven’t met anyone who seemed like my age until now.” Which doesn’t sound odd, even though it’s the summer break, not many people are out and about (let alone running an independent car wash).

Jeno, who hasn’t said anything since this person appeared, was the first one to approach said person with a small smile on his face. “It’s going to become a worse first impression since we haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Lee Jeno, nice to meet you.” He says while extending his hand out for (hopefully) a handshake.

The person takes Jeno’s hand and shakes it excitedly, “Liu Yangyang, I just moved here a few days ago.” The smile he gives is a gummy one, which makes Jeno blush. Seeing that Jeno took the initiative, the other three went up to them to introduce themselves.

“Excuse us from not introducing ourselves yet, I’m Jaemin, and this is Donghyuck and this is Renjun.” Jaemin points to himself and then the other two, “Where did you move from?”

“From China! I was accepted into university here and I needed somewhere to stay. Luckily one of my cousins was already living here so he told me to move in now before the semester starts!” Yangyang explains brightly.

“That’s nice to hear! Welcome to our town!” Donghyuck says while spreading his arms for dramatic effect, “Welcome to our car wash as well!” which brought a giggle from Yangyang who followed Donghyuck’s antics and bowed.

“Why thank you kind person.” Yangyang couldn’t help but smile again, “Is it right to assume that we’re the same age? I just have a feeling we’re the same age.”

“Born in 2000?” Renjun asks and Yangyang nods in reply, “Yup you’re right we’re all born in 2000.”

“Yay! The first people I meet in my new area are the same age as me~” Yangyang sings as he does a little dance on the spot. Jaemin can see that he wasn’t the only one who is smiling fondly at their new friend(?). Just when he was going to ask more about Yangyang, another voice was heard.

“Yangyang!” The five of them turned to the entrance and saw someone there. Yangyang made a noise of recognition before turning back around to the quartet. “Yangyang we need to go!”

“That’s my cousin Kun! I texted him I was here and he said he’ll pick me up because it’s getting late.” Yangyang explains sheepishly, “If I stopped by here a bit earlier I could have talked to you a bit longer.” He pouts at the end which brought out a coo from Donghyuck.

“It’s okay! We’ll be here tomorrow so you can visit us again?” Donghyuck asks with a bit of hope in his voice.

Yangyang nods, “I was planning on going to explore the area again tomorrow so I’ll definitely stop by again!” He moved to start walking to his cousin but Jeno stopped him to ask something.

“Then…how about we show you around? That way we can get to know each other and show you where we hang out when we’re not in university?”

There was a moment of silence, the four waiting for Yangyang to consider Jeno’s offer. Jeno knew that the other three were not opposed to this so he didn’t have to check. He just knew that they were all drawn to this stranger who appeared out of nowhere, but they suddenly want to dote on him.

Yangyang adjusted his backpack, “Okay! Let’s do that!” and the four quietly sighed in relief without realising.

“Liu Yangyang! Are you going to take any longer?” Yangyang’s cousin walked up to the group, “I don’t want my car to be towed any minute.” He says jokingly.

“We’re just about done Kun ge!” Yangyang replies, “I met them today but they said they’ll show me around tomorrow! They’re my age too!”

Kun couldn’t help but smile at Yangyang’s enthusiasm, “I’m glad to hear that Yangyang but we do need to go unfortunately.” Kun turned to give the others an apologetic smile, “I’d learn you’re names right now but I’m in a rush.”

The four boys shook their heads, “It’s okay! We’ll see Yangyang again tomorrow!” Donghyuck replies cheerfully which made Kun smile in relief.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow!” Yangyang waves at them as he lets Kun lead him away, and the quartet couldn’t help but wave back until they were out of sight. Renjun was the first to say something the second they stopped waving.

“Why do we all want to put Yangyang in our pockets?”

“You know exactly why. The same reason why Jeno offered to show Yangyang around without asking us beforehand.” Jaemin replies while still looking at the direction Kun and Yangyang left.

“He’s cute.” Donghyuck offered nothing besides a shrug, “We were all thinking the same the minute we saw him.”

“You’re welcome by the way.” Jeno puts his hands on his hips, “If I didn’t ask we would have to ask tomorrow and I know for a fact none of us will have the confidence I had just now.”

Renjun clapped his hands, “Let’s talk about this back at Donghyuck’s house. I see the customer walking this way to pick up their car. We need to close up anyway.” He says as he grabbed Donhyuck by the wrist to drag him to pick up the sponges and buckets. Jaemin followed them with a small smile while dragging Jeno by the sleeve.

Their summer has just become a lot more interesting.

As it was Saturday, it was unanimously decided that they’ll try to close by 3pm. They knew that no one would have an issue because they would be back the next day. Whether it was the lingering thought of Yangyang arriving any minute, the boys worked hard to make sure the cars were extra clean. It was a really nice time to be outside, the sun wasn’t blazing and there was a cool breeze throughout the day.

Donghyuck had come up with the plan on the places where they should show Yangyang. The list ranged from their favourite spots to eat, places they felt like doing some physical activity, to the secret dessert café Renjun found during their first year of university. It was run by a really nice owner Taeyong, and next door was a dance studio run by Winwin (Dong Sicheng), where the four would blow off any steam through dancing.

That area was their little spot of paradise in between all the stress and tests, and now they’re excited to show it to someone new.

It was nearing 3pm when Yangyang appeared at the car wash, as if he knew they were going to close soon so they can spend the rest of the afternoon showing him around. The last customer had just left the parking lot so it will take the boys around ten minutes to pack everything up. When Yangyang offered to help, the four blandly refused and told him to sit and wait for them to finish up.

“Once we drop off the stuff at my house, we can head into town and show you around.” Donghyuck told Yangyang as they start the walk to his house, “If you’re okay with it, do you want to have dinner with us too?”

Yangyang turned around to face Donghyuck but he kept walking backwards, not losing his balance, “I’ll have to check with Kun ge but I don’t think he’ll say no. He’s really happy that I’ve met people my age before the semester starts.” he says with a grin.

Renjun fastens his pace so he is walking next to Yangyang, “Speaking of your cousin, do the both of you have Chinese background? You call him Kun ge.” Renjun has been curious since yesterday, not missing the use of ge when Yangyang spoke about his cousin.

Yangyang nods, “You’re right. I grew up in Germany, but I learnt German, Chinese and English. I moved back to China for high school, and one of my friends taught me Korean for fun. Suddenly, I decided to study at a Korean university so now I have a reason to continue practising my Korean.” In truth, he didn’t really think about studying overseas for university.  
The original plan was to go to a local university in China, but after hearing from Kun about how he was enjoying his time in Korea as an exchange student, it gave Yangyang enough curiosity to experience it himself.

Luckily his parents had no problem with it. In fact, they encouraged him to apply to a few Korean universities that were in line with what he wanted to study. A month later, Yangyang confirmed his acceptance into one of his choices. In two weeks, he was on the plane heading to Korea, with Kun picking him up at the airport.

Not even a week later, Yangyang had met a few people who he felt that he can fit right in. He doesn’t know why but he has a good feeling towards this group of four friends.

“And now you’ve met us! The more you talk to us, you’ll be able to master Korean in no time!” Jaemin says as he throws an arm around Donghyuck, “Take Renjun for example. He was near perfect with Korean, but by arguing with Hyuckie we can’t fight with him!” Jaemin says cheerfully while using Donghyuck as a shield to block him from Renjun playfully lunging at him.

“That was one of our gravest mistakes,” Jeno says while wiping a fake tear, “We have to think three steps in advance to even think about arguing with Renjun on anything.”

“That’s true. If not for them, I wouldn’t be able to scold them for various of things. Someone needs to set us straight sometimes.” Renjun returns to walking beside Yangyang who just laughs at what just happened in the last 30 seconds. Before anyone could say anything else, they had arrived back at Donghyuck’s house. Donghyuck quickly ran up to the front door to unlock it and head straight to open the garage from the inside so they can deposit their car washing tools. The others told Yangyang to wait in the living room while they go and grab their wallets and change out of their slightly damp clothes. Donghyuck’s parents and siblings were out so he couldn’t introduce Yangyang to them, but they knew that the boys were going out tonight to show Yangyang around.

Jeno was the first to finish getting changed so he went to the kitchen to get him and Yangyang some water while they wait for the others. While he was waiting, Yangyang texted Kun and he got the okay to have dinner with them, to the delight of Jeno who he told first. As they sat together on the couch, Jeno gave Yangyang a rundown on where they were going to show him tonight and Yangyang was excited just hearing the different places he was going to discover.

“Alright, are we ready to go?” Donghyuck says once everyone was gathered back in the living room. After receiving nods of affirmation, he herded them out of the door, eager to start tonight’s adventure.

The weather had cooled down but luckily, they didn’t have to wear an extra layer. The first stop was the arcade. Even though they weren’t going to spend some time on the games, Jaemin guided Yangyang to the photobooths that were on one side of the arcade. They made sure to take enough so they all have copies each, all of different poses, filters and frames. One of the employees, Jaehyun had no problem for the five of them monopolising the photobooths for the 20 minutes they were there for. No one else was using them.

“We make sure for one of the photo strips is us trying to make the most unflattering expression we can. Usually the loser who looks the least unflattering treats us to ice cream or bubble tea. You up for it?” Donghyuck asks Yangyang while Renjun was decorating the latest photos before hitting print.

“Am I up for it? I was born ready for these type of things!” Yangyang grinned mischievously, “When you all come to mine and Kun’s place I’ll show you some of my best pictures.” 

“You’re already asking us to visit your place Yangyang?” Jeno leans over to ask, “I hope your cousin can handle the four of us.”

Jaemin stifles a laugh while Renjun snorts, “Jeno what are you talking about we’re angels.”

“That’s one way to describe us.” Donghyuck mutters under his breath while Yangyang was confused, “Anyways let’s make this our last one and go get dinner.” Everyone got into position as best as they could in a photo booth, knowing that this is the one where they’ll try and outdo each other on the unflattering scale.

“Whoever wins buys everyone ice cream?” Jaemin confirms, “Except Yangyang, he’s excluded since we are showing him around as our guest.”

“No it’s okay, I don’t mind paying. Although I doubt I’ll be the one to lose.” Yangyang says with confidence, “I like the thought of free ice cream.”

Renjun laughs before pressing the start button, “We were already competitive between us. But why do I feel like our competitiveness has been risen a couple of levels? This is going to be really interesting.”

They got Jaehyun to pick who treats everyone to ice cream, and he chose Donghyuck who was not expecting to lose. He wasn’t that sulky about it after seeing the look of joy on Yangyang’s face. The next plan was to stop by their favourite restaurant and that was a bit of a walk so after bidding Jaehyun bye, they set off.

While heading to where they’ll eat, they walked past the jungle gym where they like to hold competitions to see who can finish a course the fastest. Whoever wins for that time will get to keep a plastic trophy until the next competition. “It’s currently at my house.” Renjun says while puffing his chest out in pride, “I aced that rock climbing wall.”

After turning a few times, the group arrived at a well-lit alleyway and the smell of delicious food. The hustle of people entering and exiting the different restaurants set the atmosphere of the alleyway, and Yangyang was trying to get a glimpse of every sign while following everyone else.

“Our favourite bbq place is here. It’s more affordable and sometimes we get extra meat as service.” Jaemin says to Yangyang as they enter, “The have the best fried rice when we finish the bbq.”

“I look forward to it.” Yangyang rubs his stomach, “I’m really hungry.”

The dinner consisted of getting to know Yangyang, and learning more about his childhood before moving to Korea. In turn, the four of them shared stories from their childhood and how they all became friends and how they maintained this friendship all the way until university. It fascinated Yangyang watching the dynamics between the four of them, from arguing about order of events of a past memory, to wiping sauce splatters and feeding each other. In all honesty, Yangyang hasn’t met a group of friends like the ones in front of him, but he doesn’t feel left out at all. It’s only been 24 hours since he met them, but he can just feel how easily he clicked with them, and it brought him a smile to his face.

He couldn’t wait to tell Kun when he gets home later. Donghyuck still has to buy ice cream.

After dinner, they took Yangyang to get their favourite ice cream, which was from Taeyong’s café. It’s uncommon for a café to be still open during dinner hours, but the boys are grateful it was because of how frequently they would come here back in high school. With extra curriculum or their dance classes from Winwin’s dance school, it’s a reward to be getting a sweet treat. Also, not all café have an ice cream selection.

“Pick what you want Yangyang, or you can ask Taeyong to recommend you one.” Donghyuck says after ordering his usual.

“Donghyuck is treating today? It’s been a while since he lost I see.” Taeyong comments from behind the counter as he prepares the order. Jaemin and Renjun were already sitting down with their ice creams, while Jeno on the other hand was trying to pick a new flavour to try. After a few minutes, Yangyang decided to get a hazelnut praline, while Jeno decided to try the coffee flavour.  
“You know, it’s really nice to see a new face here in this town.” Taeyong says as he prepares Yangyang’s order, “Something tells me I’m going to see you with these boys more often.”

Yangyang smiles shyly and whispers, “I hope so too.”

Taeyong gives him a fond smile as he finishes the order, “Here, an extra scoop on the house. Don’t be a stranger now.” He says softly after Yangyang thanks him.

The boys spent another hour in Taeyobg’s café, quietly chatting as they listen to the music being played through the speakers. Yangyang received a text from Kun, asking him to come home a little bit earlier because he planned to take Yangyang to the beach in the next town tomorrow morning. Reluctant to part, Renjun was the first to offer Yangyang for them to walk him back to his and Kun’s apartment. Donghyuck, Jeno and Jaemin were quicker to agree versus Yangyang trying to politely refuse. 

“You’re not allowed to refuse.” Is what Taeyong says as he was cleaning up one of the other tables, “The four of them are a force to be reckoned with when the want to do something.” (The four beamed knowingly at Taeyong when he said that.)

Since he saw no way out of it, Yangyang accepted the offer of company on the walk back to his home. At least they got to show him the quickest way back to Kun’s apartment after taking some turns left and right. In no time, the five of them were in the elevator, going up to the 5th floor and walk Yangyang to the door.

“Thank you so much for showing me around. I had a lot of fun.” Yangyang says with his hand on the door handle. 

“We’re glad you enjoyed having us are you guides.” Jeno replies with an eye smile, “Thank you for giving us your number. I’ll add you to our group chat as soon as I can.”

“We’ll see you soon?” Renjun asks softly, not sure if Yangyang wants to hang out again (the car wash kinda doesn’t classify as hanging out). 

“Definitely!!” Yangyang answers with a thumbs up, “If I can’t come by the car wash we should meet up afterwards!”

Donghyuck smiles at the suggestion, “Sounds great Yangyang!” 

“Again, thank you for walking me home. I’ll invite you in another time but for now, get home safe!!” Yangyang says as he opens the door and steps inside, before turning around to wave again until he closes the door.

“Bye Yangyang!”

After the door closed, the quartet lowered their hands before starting the walk to the elevator. No one said a thing until the elevator arrived at the ground floor and they all exited the apartment building.

“Sooooo” Jaemin says slowly.  
“Sooooo” Renjun repeats just as slowly.

Donghyuck looked at each of his friends and sighed, “We are all thinking the same thing. Why are we not saying it?” It took one day for them to open up to Yangyang. Only one. As if they’ve known him for years, not a mere 24 hours.

“Saying that we want Yangyang to be our friend after knowing him for a day? You mean that?” Jeno says teasingly, knowing that he said what everyone was thinking, word for word. After observing how Yangyang blended in with them seamlessly, there’s no reason to deny it. 

“It took us one day to make us want to adopt him to our group. This is crazy.” Renjun says as they begin their journey back to Donghyuck’s house. “I already want to hang out with him again but we haven’t asked him what he wants to do next time. And when.”

“You’re not the only one.” Jaemin sighs, “I want to get a couple item with him.”

Donghyuck gasps, “Already?! It took 6 months for you to ask me to get matching shoes!”

“I’m just as surprised as you are okay?!” Jaemin lets out a whine and leans his head onto Donghyuck’s shoulder, “Did you see how cute he was when we were at the photo booths? His smile is so bright! I could look at that smile every day.” Donghyuck couldn’t help but slightly cringe at how sappy Jaemin sounded.

Renjun hesitated before adding his input, “If it reassures you Jaemin, I want to invite Yangyang to my house and paint something together.” He says that brings out a noise from Jeno.

“If it wasn’t for my mum wanting me to give her a handmade gift for her birthday, you would have never invited me to paint with you! I would’ve had to ask you through Hyuck!” He pouts at the memory, sad that it took a bit longer for him and Renjun to be comfortable with each other.

“Excuse you Jeno! Do you know how long it took you for you to trust me to cat sit?! It took me five cat scratches and an almost runaway cat for you to let me look after them by myself!” Jaemin intervenes with a huff.

“I know that you want to take him to a cat café. Don’t think you can hide that from us!”

Jeno sputters at Jaemin’s accusation. He knows that he is turning red from being found out. His three cats already have a co-parent and he isn’t allowed another one. Because of that, he works at the cat cafè, so he can be surrounded by cuties all day. (With his allergy medicine)

“At least we’re not like Donghyuck, who doesn’t explain that he only asks people to record a cover with people he grows close too.” Renjun says because no one said anything about how Donghyuck shows his way of affection. Donghyuck sent Renjun a glare, thinking he got away from being exposed.

“Wow, we’ve got it bad.” Is what Donghyuck says, “It’s official we all want to adopt him into our group. Now we just need to ask him .

“Can we ask him the next time we hang out?” Renjun asks but Jaemin shakes his head no.

“We need to add a lil’ something special.” Is all Jaemin says with a mysterious mile. “After we all hang out with him a few more times.”

“Oh boy. I know exactly what you’re thinking Jaemin.” Jeno says with a shake of his head. “You want us to try and ask him individually by doing 

A few weeks later 

One time Yangyang was at Renjun’s house, he took an interest in the paintings on the living room wall. When Renjun told him that he painted it himself, Yangyang immediately grabbed his hands and asked him to teach him how to paint.

“I wanted to give Kun a thank you gift for letting me stay with him but I haven’t found a perfect gift yet. Please teach me how to paint Renjun~” Yangyang looks at Renjun with a pout on his face and frankly, Renjun had no reason to refuse.

As it was a nice day outside, Renjun had set up their easels in the backyard on top of a massive cloth so the paint doesn’t drop onto the grass. As Yangyang wasn’t that experienced with painting, Renjun decided to help him paint the sky, which was a really pretty mix of purple, yellow and orange.

“Painting skies is one of my favourite things.” Renjun said as he sets up the paints on the palette, “When I first started to paint one of the things I first learned was matching colours so they harmonise together on the canvas.”

Yangyang, who was watching Renjun move around while setting up their workspace, was nodding to what he said. He was glad Renjun picked something on the simpler side to paint because he really wanted to make this look good for Kun. Hopefully Kun will hang it up and people can see it when they visit their house.

“Have the others painted before?” Yangyang asks as he puts on an apron, making sure it covers his clothes well. He also puts on his headband to keep his hair out of his eyes.

“They have, when we were still in the beginnings of our friendship. I would ask them on different occasions to paint together. Sometimes I would pretend that I need to paint someone for homework but then say that the teacher change their mind when they got here.” Renjun laughs at the memory, still not believing how his lie wasn’t found out. Because if the others went to the art room, none of his “homework” would be on display anywhere. They were in his room instead, all hung up on his wall.

Yangyang doesn’t need to know that all the canvas were all portraits of the others. Not yet.

“That’s so nice. I wish I can paint well, I wasn’t good during high school.” Yangyang sighs as the things back to the canvas’ he saw. Of course he knew Renjun practiced a lot, but he hopes that he will learn some tips and tricks for beginners.

“It’s okay Yangyang. I know that you’ll make something beautiful to give to Kun. I’ll be guiding you through it.” Renjun says to reassure him, sensing the nervous jitters from the boy next to him, “Kun is going to love it I promise you.”

Yangyang reaches out to place a hand on Renjun’s arm, “Thanks Renjun. I’m really grateful for you taking the time to teach me.”

“Anytime Yangyang. You’re welcome to ask me to paint something together again after today.” Renjun smiles and reaches out to pat Yangyang’s head, he couldn’t resist.

“How do you manage to raise three cats at once? You said they have very different personalities? Not to mention you have allergies.” Yangyang asks while scratching the ears of the kitten dozing off in his lap.

Jeno looks up from where he’s sitting not far from Yangyang, but also with a kitten in his lap, “Believe me, it took a lot of patience in order to raise my cats. At least they weren’t that difficult compared to looking after Donghyuck, Renjun and Jaemin.” Jeno jokes which makes Yangyang laugh quietly so he doesn’t jostle the sleeping kitten.

“Anyways, my love for cats overpowered my allergies. Granted my mum made me wait until I was a bit older, and getting into the habit of taking my allergy medicine the second I see a cat. It helped me out before I got my three cats.” Jeno explains as the kitten in his lap unconsciously made room for another kitten to settle on Jeno’s lap. He reaches his hand out to pat the new visitor, knowing it will soon fall asleep like their friend. It was nearing 4pm, and from Jeno’s experience, more cats and kittens will be finding a warm spot in the café to take a nap.

“Jaemin, Renjun and Donghyuck helped me out a lot as well. When I fall sick, they would take the cats to their houses until I was better. Or cat sit while I’m out of town. It’s funny when I realised that each cat has taken a likelihood to each one of them respectively.” Jeno couldn’t help but grin, lucky to have friends who can help him out with situations like this. If not for them, he wouldn’t know who to turn to besides his family.

“That’s so cute though!” Yangyang says, “They all co-parent your cats and have their own ‘child’. I’ve never raised a cat before, and Kun’s apartment complex doesn’t allow pets yet.” Jeno’s heart soars after seeing Yangyang pout about not being about to raise a pet. Which gave him an idea.

“Well, right now I can see one of these kittens are taking a strong liking to you. Even if you can’t have a pet at home, you can always come and play with this one.” Jeno looks at the cute orange kitten sleeping soundly in Yangyang’s lap.

“Can I?” Yangyang asks with hope shining through his eyes, “Are you sure I can come often? I’ve fallen in love with this one of my lap, I know I’ll be stopping by often.”

Jeno nods, “Of course your can. If you do, I’ll have some company while on my shift. Plus I can teach you how to look after that little one.” He makes a mental note to check and see if the cat café is in any need of part timers.

“Thank you Jeno!!” Yangyang says as quietly as he could to not disturb the kitten. “I’ll be the best co-parent ever!” He adds before refocusing his attention to the one on his lap, not noticing the blush that crept up on Jeno’s face.

“I can’t wait to see you more often.” Jeno hears Yangyang whisper to the kitten, and his heart burst at the sudden cuteness.

“I still can’t believe your brother asked you to teach him to sing a song to woo my cousin.” Yangyang says perched on the chair as he looks at Donghyuck who was sitting on his bed and on his laptop looking for songs.

“I saw this from a mile away Yangyang. The minute my brother opened the door and met your cousin at the doorstep that one day he picked you up from my house, it was love at first sight.” Donghyuck replies without looking away from the screen, “At least this will give me an excuse to record another cover song, I haven’t had time to record something new.”

Yangyang looks at Donghyuck with a thoughtful look before slowly rolling the chair until he met the side of Donghyuck’s bed. Ever since Donghyuck told him he sings from time to time, he’s always wanted to hear him sing since Donghyuck refuses to show him his Youtube channel where he uploads his covers.

“Have you found a song yet?” Yangyang shifts his body so he can have a look at the screen where Donghyuck is scrolling through his music library. He takes note that there is a lot of Michael Jackson songs, possibly every song from his albums.

“Not yet, I’m tossing between a Korean or English song for Johnny hyung. But then I remembered that he learnt Mandarin in college so I could make him sing a song entirely in Mandarin.” Donghyuck says as he continues to scroll through his music library.

Yangyang nods thoughtfully, “Kun ge would like that. Although I think he finds anything Johnny ge does is cute so any language would do. Or maybe a mix of all three languages.” He couldn’t help but laugh at imagining Johnny switching languages mid song.

Donghyuck turns to look at Yangyang with a look, “You know what that doesn’t sound that bad of an idea. You know Mandarin and English so you can help translate the Korean parts for Johnny hyung to sing.”

“As much as that sounds like fun, Johnny ge might have a hard time going from one language to another. If it was us two it wouldn’t be that hard, since you said you’ve sung in English before.” Yangyang says without thinking, that brought a look of surprise to Donghyuck’s face.

“What’s that look?” Yangyang couldn’t help but laugh, “You’ve told me this before, did you forget?”

Donghyuck shrugged before turning back to the laptop screen, “Looks like I did.”

The next few minutes were Donghyuck and Yangyang debating between songs, before narrowing it down to three of them to show Johnny when he comes home from work. On the side, Donghyuck found a song he had been wanting to cover for a while.

“Oh I like this song!” Yangyang says when Donghyuck commented to himself about singing this one for a cover. “I’ve been thinking about covering it myself!”

“Then how about we record it together?” Donghyuck says first before his brain caught up to what he said. He can feel his ears burning up at how easily he asked Yangyang to record a duet together. Back in high school, Donghyuck wasn’t thinking about joining the singing club. But after Jeno caught him singing in his room unexpectedly, he was persuaded. 

Donghyuck didn’t sing duets a lot, he was often sharing a song with three or more people. He felt that a duet is a bit more special, because it’s just him and someone else. You need that chemistry in order for a duet to work, is what goes through Donghyuck’s head.

He never thought that Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin would be interested in a duet. But he was proven wrong. Each time he asked a different person, they all jumped at the chance. “How can we not say yes to singing with you?” Is what the three of them said on three different occasions.

And each duet went really well, bringing a smile to Donghyuck’s face when he listens back to the track. They made Donghyuck more comfortable and confident in his singing ever since the day they discovered that he sang. If it wasn’t for them, Donghyuck wouldn’t be thinking about pursuing music in university, so he was really thankful to them. 

“Recording it together? Like a duet?” Donghyuck brings his mind back to the present, and back to Yangyang, who was looking adorably confused.

“Yeah. I meant a duet.” Donghyuck says with confidence, “I’ve done duets with the others before but with different songs. This style is different and I want to try it out.” 

“I see…” Yangyang nods, mulling over how would their duet sound like. “I’m honestly down for a duet with you Donghyuck.”

Donghyuck perks up at his answer, “Really?” 

“Really.” Yangyang nods, “I’ve only had practice with Kun ge, so I’m curious about how would we sound like together!” 

“Well then. After we find a song for Johnny hyung, we can work on our duet?” Donghyuck says so he doesn’t forget his current priority.

“Sounds good!” Yangyang smiles brightly before scoring closer to Donghyuck to look at the laptop, “We need to pick a good song that will make Kun ge blush. He pays attention to the lyrics of songs.” 

Donghyuck couldn’t help but look at Yangyang’s side profile (as he looked at the laptop) and smile at the thought of their duet. He couldn’t wait to tell the others.

  
Jaemin was getting some groceries for his mum, before he ran into Yangyang in the fruit and vegetable aisle. Since he had nothing else to do, he invited Yangyang to have dinner with him after he drops off what he bought home.

With Yangyang agreeing to join him for dinner, they went to a Korean BBQ restaurant and managed to get a table in one of the quieter sections so they can still hear each other. It was the first time it was just the two of them which made Jaemin nervous. However as they ate together, they talked about various topics so it wasn’t awkward at all.

Jaemin couldn’t help but stare at Yangyang as he spoke about the latest topic, his life back in Germany, luckily Jaemin was good at multitasking so the meat never burned. Channelling his inner mum mode, he focused on making sure Yangyang was eating enough even though they both ordered a big portion to share.

Jaemin takes a minute to put down the tongs after placing all the cooked meat on a side plate, not needing to cook anything else at the moment, “Hey Yangyang?”

“Yeah Jaemin?” Yangyang replies as he is constructing a wrap with utter concentration, which Jaemin was somewhat glad Yangyang won’t see the nervousness on his face, “How do you feel about jewellery?”

“Jewellery? What kind are you talking about?” Yangyang replies as he takes some ssamjang and gochujang to put in his wrap, which Jaemin notes his preference of ssamjang to gochujang ratio.

“Um… bracelets?” Jaemin says, unsure of his answer which causes Yangyang to look up and set his chopsticks down. “Bracelets because…?” Yangyang drifts off, inviting Jaemin to elaborate.

“I uh, saw some bracelets the other day that look really nice. They’re thin but they have a small charm you can attach to it.” Jaemin offers as his explanation, trying to not give away too much.

“Oh those are cute! Is this a gift for someone?” Yangyang asks before eating his wrap. Jaemin was struggling to come up with vague enough answers because he knew that if he slips up, he'll be directly asking Yangyang if he wants to have a couple item with him. But he doesn’t want to freak him out, “Um, kind of?”

“But…?” Yangyang says with a mouthful of his meat wrap.

“But I want to gift more than one...” Jaemin says quietly but Yangyang still heard him as he finished his wrap. “Like matching bracelets?” Jaemin nods, “Is that weird?”

“Not at all. I find that cute, matching jewellery with someone. Well, I like matching clothes in the first place.” Yangyang replies as he started to construct another wrap, thus he didn’t see the look of joy on Jaemin’s face.

“Me too! I have matching hats, clothes, bags and shoes with Donghyuck, Renjun and Jeno!” Jaemin says with excitement which made Yangyang look up to see how sparkly Jaemin’s eyes seem to be while talking about this topic.

“Awww that’s really cute Jaemin!” Yangyang smiles fondly, “Besides Kun ge, I don’t have many couple items.” Which Jaemin saw as the moment to strike.

“Then how about getting something to match with me?” Jaemin says in one breath.

Yangyang points to himself, “With me?” he asks to confirm.

“You’re the only Yangyang I know,” Jaemin says with a small laugh, “Yes Yangyang, I meant you.” Yangyang was a bit taken aback at the sudden question, only because this is the first time someone that wasn’t Kun who asked him about getting matching items. When he thinks about it, he does remember seeing a familiar shirt or pair of shoes being worn by someone else each time they meet up but he didn’t bother to question it. Now it all makes sense. And to be honest, Yangyang feels a bit flattered to be asked by Jaemin to have something matching (although he wasn’t too sure why he was feeling like this).

“You don’t have to say yes.” Jaemin says softly, “It’s completely up to you to decide.” Although they’ve known Yangyang for a little over a month and he fits right with their group, Jaemin still wants to do something to make Yangyang’s welcome ‘official’.

“Oh no it’s not that!” Yangyang waves his hands, “I’m just surprised that you asked me. I would like to get something matching with you Jaemin.” He smiles and receives one in return. 

“Next time we hang out, we’ll all go and pick something out together.” Jaemin says as the waiter puts down the serving of fried rice they asked for. 

“All of us? Okay, that sounds good!” Yangyang answers, although a little confused as to why Jaemin mentioned the others, but he’ll ask another time.

The next time they hung out together, Jaemin was excitedly pulling them to the jewellery store, with the others following him, slight amused. They all got a thin bracelet with a charm of an animal that represents them, and the number 00’ next to it. By then, Yangyang figured something out. But it’ll take him another day to confirm his thoughts.

“Surely there’s a reason behind this.” He thinks to himself as he looks at his new bracelet, fitting perfectly on his wrist.

Although closing the car wash earlier than planned was a relief since they can rest, it was also an excuse for them to lounge around at one of their houses to avoid the heat. They don’t think they could cope with washing cars with the temperature rising faster than they expected. It was Jeno’s turn to have them at his house, ready to have a lazy day and maybe watch a movie.

"Do you want oranges or grapes?" Jaemin asked the rest from his spot in the kitchen, eyeing the fruit bowl. The other four were sprawled out in the living room as the air conditioner was whirling around them, none of them didn't feel like moving unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Does it matter which one we choose Jaemin?" Donghyuck replied from his spot on the floor, spread out like a starfish, one of his arms spread far enough that his hand was near the crown of Yangyang's head. Donghyuck was absentmindedly combing through his hair because he's always wondered how soft Yangyang's hair was and now he knows that it's very fluffy. Yangyang was close to falling asleep as he kept dozing off from his spot on the floor and Donghyuck’s hand combing through his hair was definitely helping him to fall asleep.

Jaemin hummed before answering, "I mean... kind of, with the oranges I can make a really cold orange juice but with the grapes, I can add them to this smoothie recipe I wanted to try out."

Renjun moved his body up from the couch to face Jaemin who was still standing behind the kitchen counter where the fruit bowl was, "Wait people use grapes in smoothies? Isn't it usually strawberries?"

"Yeah, it is but this was the only recipe that used grapes and something else. So I was intrigued and bought the other ingredients for this smoothie." Jaemin picks up an orange in one hand and a mandarin in the other, contemplating on which one to use.

"I think it's better to make the orange juice because it's getting hotter even though we have the air con on Jaemin." Jeno walked to the other side of the kitchen counter and picked up a few more of the oranges, "I remembered that there's a ton of ice cubes in the fridge that I prepared since yesterday because I knew we were going to use all of them." Jaemin lights up at that, eager to start making the drinks for all of them before the heat gets any higher than it already is.

“Is summer here always this hot?” Yangyang mumbles out loud enough, “It made me realise I didn’t have enough t-shirts and shorts to change into. I end up putting what I wear each day into the washing machine because of the sweat I create.”

“It hits its peak in the middle of summer, but towards the end it’s not as hot but we can’t be too careful.” Donghyuck replies as he continues to stroke Yangyang’s hair, “Some days one of us sleeps for too long and then they can’t be bothered leaving their house because it’s cool inside.”

Yangyang giggles, imagining one of them just lying down in bed and refusing to get up. “But in the end whoever decides to not get up, the rest just go to their house?”

“Exactly.” Jaemin calls out as he brings out the blender, “Feel free to close your eyes for a little bit while I make the orange juice with the blender. It’ll be too noisy to talk over it.” He starts to fill the blender with the orange pieces and ice cubes, adding some water and sugar. This is based on a recipe he saw in a café vlog, which was different from what he usually does which is juicing the oranges but he wanted to try this out.

For the next few minutes, all is heard is a blender and the occasional knife cutting up more oranges. In this moment, life felt really simple to Yangyang. He didn’t think this is what he would be doing the summer before starting university in his new home. Being welcomed with open arms by Jaemin, Renjun, Donghyuck and Jeno was something he didn’t expect to get right away. He thought he had to wait until the first week of classes to try and make new friends. 

“What’s got you thinking Yangyang?” Jeno asks, lying down next to Yangyang, getting comfortable with resting his head on a pillow.

“Not much.” He replies, “I’m just happy.”

“Care to share?” Donghyuck asks, curious to know what’s that look on his face that has him smiling. He knows his fondness is showing.

Yangyang (reluctantly) sits up so he can see the rest of them as Jaemin renters the living room with five glasses of orange juice. 

“Well...I’m just happy that I met all of you at the start of summer.” Yangyang starts out shyly, knowing that this is going to be a bit cheesy. “I didn’t think I was going to have the courage to make friends on my own, but then I met you guys. It’s still funny when I think about the first time I saw you all at the car wash but it was memorable to me.” They all laugh thinking back to that one day.

He continues, “That day you showed me around town, I felt like I’d known you all for years. We clicked just like that. I didn’t know if you felt the same way as I did but I hoped that I can stick with you all even after the summer. I was a little scared that we would go back to being strangers once the semester started.” Yangyang can see the looks of confusion on their faces, but hopefully what he was going to say next would give some clarity.

“But then when I was hanging out with you all individually, I was nervous that it was going to be awkward. But it wasn’t, every time you all made me feel comfortable around you and I was touched by that.” Yangyang smiles at all of them, thankful for their efforts to make it less awkward when it was one on one. 

“The fact you we were doing something that you’ve all done together previously, made me feel like I was a part of it too in a way? After hearing that all of you did something together when you were starting out as friends made me feel like you were doing the same with me?” Yangyang asks, finally dropping the question that he was wondering for the past few days. 

“What do you mean?” Jaemin couldn’t help but ask for clarification.

Yangyang tried to put his thoughts as plainly as possible “Um, I mean like...were you all trying to imply that you want to be friends with me or something? When I hung out with you all individually and did the stuff you all did to be better friends?” He had no idea how to explain what he was thinking. 

The four just looked at each other, silently communicating something that Yangyang couldn’t read off of their facial expressions.

“See? I told you he’ll figure it out!” Jeno was the first one to break the silence.

Renjun shakes his head, “Jaemin this was all your idea I can’t believe we went with it.” 

“I bet it was the bracelet that gave him the biggest hint.” Donghyuck says after noticing that they’re all wearing their bracelets.

Jaemin looked sheepish, “At least it worked!” and Jaemin receive three looks back.

“So was I right?” Yangyang asked, not sure on what’s going on from what he heard.

“Yeah you were.” Renjun was the one who ended up answering, “To be honest we, minus Jaemin, wanted you to be a part of our friend group immediately. But Jaemin over here wanted us to try and subtly give you hints that we want to. By doing the stuff we did as we were working through our friendship years ago.”

“I’m still not sure why Jaemin wanted us to come up with ways to ask you to be our friend, but not actually ask you that.” Donghyuck takes a sip of his juice, letting out an “ahh” for the refreshing feeling of a cold drink. 

“I just wanted Yangyang to experience what we went through when we wanted to be more comfortable around each other!” Jaemin pouts in frustration, “Besides, asking someone ‘do you want to be our friend?’ is already weird! Who does that these days?! You just assume you’re a part of a friend group but I at least wanted to make it special!!” 

Yangyang, who was quietly watching the exchange, let’s out a loud laugh, “When you put it that way, it does make sense. You didn’t want to leave me out from some memories that helped you all be closer to each other. Also I do agree, no one really asks one another right away they can be friends that much anymore. You just talk and hang out and see where it goes.” Jaemin grins, happy that his reasoning went through although it sounded a little confusing.

“But.” Yangyang couldn’t help add, “If you explained to me that all of our bracelets happened to match, not just yours and mine, because they were friendship bracelets. That would’ve worked too in asking me to join your friend group.” He giggles as he sees the others turning to stare at Jaemin for putting them through this. He can see Jaemin sweating nervously under the glares until he sees a pillow from the corner of his eye, and scrambling to get away from it.

“PILLOW FIGHT ON JAEMIN!!” Jeno yells out in glee, moving the glasses away from the chaos that just erupted. 

As Yangyang watches Jaemin getting chased down by Renjun and Donghyuck, he couldn’t help but smile at the turn of strange events. Even if he had to find out that he was being asked to be their friend in some weird official way, it is still a memory for Yangyang.

At this moment, he’s happy to find people that he feels the same sparkly connection the first day they met.


End file.
